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Showdown (1963)

The border town of Adone is one of a kind: it has no
jail, therefore perpetrators are chained to a post in the middle of the town
street. This is what happens to two friends, Chris (Audie Murphy) and Bert
(Charles Drake), after spending a night in town. Chris was already a bit
skeptic about their visit, because his friend has a habit of drinking and
making trouble at the card table. Of course his worries come true: a drunken
Chris provokes a brawl in the saloon and the two end up in the middle of the
street, with an iron collar around their necks.

It's an unpleasant situation, but under normal circumstances
they will be released the next day, so Chris tries to get some sleep while Bert
is sobering up. Unfortunately, they're not alone: also tied to the pole, is a
dangerous outlaw called Lavalle, who forces the others to dig out the
pole. After a brief shootout, the 'prisoners' manage to escape and fly
into the hills. Chris and Bert decide to go their own way, but they're caught
by Lavalle and his men. In town Bert has stolen a few bonds belonging to an old
flame, and now Lavalle wants him to go back to convert them into cash.
Bert travels to town, but comes back empty handed, infuriating the maniacal
criminal ...

Showdown is a stark, grim movie, with a short running time
(under 80 minutes), made on a tight budget. The outdoor scenes were shot around Lone
Pine, but to save money, the movie was shot in black-and-white, a decision that
made Murphy furious. Lone Pine was also a favorite shooting location of Bud
Boetticher and there's no doubt that the famous Scott-Boetticher westerns from
the Ranown Cycle were a major source of inspiration. There a hostage
situation, a strong-willed yet vulnerable lady, and an undaunted hero, who
refuses to give an inch. Murphy's Chris is a man who acts on instinct rather than
reason: he risks his own neck when trying to save his friend's life, even
though Bert has told him he wouldn't ever do the same thing for him ...

The film was almost completely overlooked and panned by
those who had noticed it, but recent comments have been more positive. Some
have criticized the script (by Ric Hartman, working under the pseudonymous
Bronson Howitzer) for being contrived and over-elaborate, and yes it's a bit
mechanical, and not all twists and turns are believable, but basically this is
a B-movie and scripts for these movies were never meant to be scrutinized
methodically. Audie Murphy is his usual steadfast self and there are nice
cameos by Strother Martin (as the town drunk) and L.Q. Jones (as
a silent member of the gang), six years before they became a notorious couple
of scavengers in Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch. The one thing that doesn't
work, is Kathleen Crowley's part of the saloon girl who once was Bert's
sweetheart but is now developing feelings for Chris. Crowley isn't bad - or
ugly for that matter - but watching her, it's hard not to think of
Sergio Leone's statement that women basically slow a western down.

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